[W.HI.P]

whats there to talk about.
in 2006, at this site, i called the penguins, stanley cup contenders for 2008, 2009 and 2010.
they were in the stanley cup finals in 08, they're here in 09... i'm not so sure they'll make it next year, but its already pretty accurate, no?

you wanna talk about hockey, lets look at 2011, 2012 and 2013.

eastern conference

atlantic
the penguins cycle is almost over.
these years will find them needing to rebuild.
both ny teams will come into contention in these years as we will see them playing each other in the play-offs at some point.
phillie needs to change a lot of things if they ever want to compete again.
11-13 will find the devils at the pit of this division.

northeast

boston is not going away, they should represent the east in the stanley cup at least once in these years.
ottawa will re-surface and make the play-offs, although i can see them selling a year for a draft pick.
montreal will always be there as they have always been.
i can't see the leafs coming out of mediocrity until they start getting their priorities straight...some good moves have been made, but until i see a few more, they remain condemned ....i will let you know it the second they make a substantial move to leave the pit of the nhl.

southeast


11-13 will find this division in a two team battle...washington and tampa bay not only will fight for this division, but they're also stanley cup contenders.
atlanta is on pace at creating a very good team...if they really want to make this team competitive, they should finish at the bottom for the next couple years to strengthen up even more.
florida and carolina have rough years ahead.

western conference

central

as i've mentioned before, detroit has been surpassed by chicago.
detroit is on the fall where chicago is on the rise.
they will have some competition from the young st.louis blues.
i can't rule out the blue jackets either as they've done some amazing work at building this team.
nashville is going to have a tough time in this division these following years.

northwest

minnesota stands alone here in this very weak division.
i can't see how this team can miss the play-offs in any of the 11-13 years.
calgary needs to sacrifice a year to fill in some of the holes in the team....if they would have done it already, they'd be in the stanley cup....i'm not so sure they're gonna do it, which removes them from any positive projection.
colorado has some work to do, but they're already on there way.
edmonton and vancouver will suffer very severely after their costly moves this past year.
edmonton is in a bit of a better position than the canucks who will be at the pit of the nhl for some years to come.

pacific

san jose stands all alone here as they will remain elite.
the stanley cup is innevitable for these sharks.
i'm afraid to say that the ducks are not in contention anymore, however, they could be back in 2013 if they make the right moves between now and then...they already hold some key young talent.
the la kings should be up there around 2nd place in this division.
its hard to say wether that'll be enough for a playoff spot.
phoinex has the great obstacle of gretzky...he's gotta go.
lets hope they move as well.
dallas has some serious issues....i've gotta see how turco evolves over the next few years to determine what capabilities this team will have.